Chapter 69: The Photo in the Box

Freya returned to the storage unit alone with Chloe on Tuesday afternoon. Louis had wanted security nearby, so Derek arranged for someone to remain outside without following them visibly. Freya complained about the precaution but secretly appreciated it.

She told Chloe only that she was sorting her parents' belongings. That explanation was true, even if incomplete.

They spent an hour separating personal items from business records. Chloe helped identify old university materials and laughed at photographs of Freya with terrible teenage hairstyles.

"Destroy that one," Freya said.

"Absolutely not. I'm keeping evidence."

Near the bottom of a family box, Freya found a thick envelope filled with printed photographs from formal events.

One showed her parents standing beside Charles Stone.

Another included a younger Victor Shaw.

Then Freya reached the third photograph.

She stopped.

Clement's father, Richard Knox, stood beside Victor.

The photograph had been taken at one of Stonebridge's development-site ceremonies more than fifteen years earlier.

"You okay?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah." Freya turned the photograph over.

A handwritten note listed the attendees: Charles Stone, David Stonebridge, Victor Shaw, Robert Mercer, Richard Knox.

Every major family or company now appearing in the investigation had been represented at the same project.

Freya photographed both sides and sent them to Louis.

His reply came almost immediately: "Bring the original."

Chloe noticed. "Louis?"

"Yes."

"You two really are doing everything together now."

Freya ignored the implication.

They continued sorting. Another photograph showed Freya as a child holding her father's hand while Charles Stone bent down to speak with her. Behind them, a much younger Louis stood beside his grandfather.

Freya stared at it.

"I met Louis before the marriage arrangement?"

Chloe looked over her shoulder. "Apparently."

A memory surfaced slowly. A tall, quiet boy who had given her a wrapped candy because she was crying after scraping her knee. She had never connected that blurry childhood memory with Louis.

Freya laughed softly.

"What's funny?"

"Nothing. Just something I forgot."

She kept that photograph too.

When she returned home, Louis was waiting for the first image. He examined the list of names carefully.

"Richard Knox claimed his company had no meaningful relationship with Victor until much later," he said.

"This proves they knew each other."

"At least professionally."

Freya handed him the second photograph.

Louis looked at the image of their younger selves.

"Do you remember this?" she asked.

He was silent for several seconds.

"Yes."

Freya blinked. "You remember me?"

"You cried loudly."

"I was a child!"

"You also demanded my candy."

"According to my memory, you offered it."

"Your memory is selective."

Freya laughed and took the photograph back.

The first picture might become evidence in a conspiracy. The second was something else entirely—a reminder that their lives had crossed long before either of them understood how deeply their families were connected.

Freya later placed the childhood photograph in a simple frame beside the lighthouse. Louis noticed but made no comment. When Freya went to her room, he remained looking at it for a moment longer. He had remembered the crying little girl for years without ever imagining she would eventually become the person whose presence he now noticed the moment he entered a room.

There were still too many unanswered questions to draw a final conclusion. Each discovery clarified one part of the past while exposing another missing piece. For now, they agreed to preserve what they had found, verify every connection carefully, and avoid giving Victor any reason to suspect that the old records had resurfaced.